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Messages - David Drinkell

#1
Organs on eBay or for urgent sale / Re: Conacher on ebay
September 03, 2019, 04:10:33 PM
Ah!  I was thinking it might have been one of their Irish jobs and I was piqued that I didn't recognise it!
#2
The date is too early.  Prosser was in business from about 1844-1883.  I believe he was an ex-Bevington man -certainly his organs have a Bevington look about them, apart from the milled edges on the metal pipes which are common on Bevingtons because of the firm's particular type of casting bench.

Apart from working under his own name, Prosser supplied organs for Chappell & Company, the music publishers.  Ashbocking, Suffolk, is an example, and there is an identical example at St. Paul's, Harbour Grace, Newfoundland.
#3
Being pedantic - NPOR records the builder as Conacher Sheffield, a different firm from either Peter or James Conacher of Huddersfield. Bernard Edmonds once referred to them as "Conacher Sheffield, upon whom be maledictions".

I hope the rebuilding of the congregation and worship proceeds successfully.
#4
It is indeed a nice looking instrument and the casework and much of the insides could well be by Renn (sic), but the specification, stop labels and compass must be much later.  For example, it has Lieblich Flute and Lieblich Bourdon, and Lieblichs didn't appear until Schulze's Great Exhibition organ of 1851.  An interesting opportunity for research.
#5
Organs on eBay or for urgent sale / Re: HW4 on ebay
October 30, 2018, 08:02:20 PM
This looks like the organ which Henry 4 built for Sheffield University and, when it was replaced with a larger instrument by Hill, Norman & Beard in about 1977 (I was at the opening recital), went as a secondary organ to Sheffield Cathedral. Peter Wood added the Great Fifteenth, which had been prepared-for.  It looks as if it has been through some rough times, but would probably restore quite nicely.
#6
It doesn't look quite Regency to me - more like post-mid 19th century, but it's difficult to tell.  There's no picture of the complete instrument with case. Maybe the upper parts of the case got lost somewhere along the way.  Nice little job for someone, though.
#7
Best wishes for a swift and full recovery.
#8
Organs wanted / Re: looking for big organ
June 05, 2018, 03:00:46 PM
Dartford is a fine organ, vintage Arthur Harrison, completed tastefully by Kingsgate Davidson.
#9
Organs in danger / Re: St Paul's Church, St Albans
November 09, 2017, 07:49:18 PM
I'm sticking my neck out here, but seeing how much the instrument has been altered over the course of its life, is it really worth saving?  Its present stoplist is far removed from previous ones.  If our esteemed correspondent Martin Renshaw is concerned about it, I presume that it contains a goodly number of historic pipes.
#10
Miscellaneous & Suggestions / Re: Sibelius users!
September 21, 2017, 03:30:03 AM
Thank you for suggestions so far.  I've tried a few fixes, but Sibelius doesn't appear to want to allow pasting in of Word items.  It may be that I'm too thick to work out the right way....

I may just put in the little marks by hand on the hard copy.

The trouble is, people over here tend to use Finale, so Sibelius users are thin on the ground!
#11
Miscellaneous & Suggestions / Sibelius users!
September 16, 2017, 09:50:11 PM
A question for Sibelius users: how does one get Norwegian letters (the "a" with a little circle over it and the "o" with an oblique stroke through it?

I've been trying to find how do it, but no luck so far!
#12
Another large organ worked on by Cowin was the enormous (fourth largest in England when built) four-manual (possibly five)  Kirtland & Jardine commissioned by J.B. Joule (a rich amateur organist (probably related to the brewing family) in 1856 for St. Peter, Manchester, which found its way to St. Bride's, Old Trafford, where it was installed by George Benson.  Cowin rebuilt it in 1962 as a two-manual with 40 speaking stops and one of his illuminated consoles. When the church was demolished in 1991, the organ was taken into stock by Jardine, who in 2010 were aiming to rebuild it  in St. Catherine's Priory Church, Lincoln.  This information is gleaned from NPOR, but there is no mention therein of whether the Lincoln installation took place.  Joule's organ was a very interesting beast and worth checking out on NPOR.
#13
Miscellaneous & Suggestions / Re: J.B.Dalby FRCO
March 02, 2017, 02:55:17 AM
I had often wondered about the surname Dalby - Martin himself is as Scots as you can get, but the surname is North of England.

Yes, now you come to mention it, Martin's father was at St. Machar's for a long time.  It's a fine building - the nave and west towers of what was there pre-Reformation - and has a rather splendid Father Willis, tastefully enlarged by Mander.
#14
Miscellaneous & Suggestions / Re: J.B.Dalby FRCO
March 01, 2017, 03:52:21 PM
The Scottish composer, Martin Dalby, is an Aberdonian - I think maybe son of JB.  Bio here:

http://www.impulse-music.co.uk/martindalby/biography/

I used to meet Martin during my Kirkwall days at the St. Magnus Festival.
#15
I've just remembered: the 3 manual 1858 Father Willis at Lambourn, Berkshire, had an "Oboe Orchestral" on the Great (short compass to tenor G) until Nicholsons' replaced it with a sharp mixture in 1964.  I don't know the organ, but it is reputed to be a particularly fine one. 

http://www.npor.org.uk/NPORView.html?RI=N09975

One sometimes encounters rather robust solo reeds  on Father Willis Greats, although not normally in an organ as large as this.  I'm reminded of the organ at Foxearth, Essex, which has a very forthright Corno di Bassetto - fine for Susato, but one wonders how it was used in 1863....

http://www.npor.org.uk/NPORView.html?RI=D02729
#16
Quote from: David Wyld on February 23, 2017, 01:52:17 PM
Yes, a Willis Orch. Oboe sound is thinner -  there are others that are extremely pungent,  particularly the Hope-Jones variety.

The volume of a Solo example might tend to be louder simply due to the (possibly) higher pressure,  but the final result is entirely at the whim of the voicer I think.   An over-loud Orchestral Oboe might be a rather unmusical effect?

DW

Someone once remarked that the main purpose of an Orchestral Oboe was to illustrate Psalm 140:3

"They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent: adder's poison is under their lips."

There is a good one at Belfast Cathedral (Harrison, voiced by W.C. Jones) which, apart from its solo potential, was useful in making other combinations a touch more exotic (as was the Viole d'Orchestre, voiced by Blossom, and the Swell Vox Humana).  Indispensable items when you want to give the ambience of a Cavaille-Coll to an Arthur Harrison.
#17
Just a little footnote to David Wyld's concise and thoughtful account.  Norman & Beard, in their short glory period following the beginning of the 20th century, came up with some interesting flutes.  Colchester Moot Hall has a "Claribel Harmonic Flute" on the Great.  The pipes are of wood, with the mouths on the "narrow" face, and holes at the node, yielding a full, luscious tone.  This is an amazing organ, which deserves to be better known.  I gave the re-opening concerts in 2015 after Harrisons' excellent restoration and return to the original specification, and John Maidment wrote an article in Choir and Organ, May/June 2016.  Although small (the chamber won't allow for any more organ - if they added the pedal reeds, they would have to go somewhere like under the stage), it sounds like a big, grand concert organ of at least twice the resources.  The town council wisely engaged William McVicker (who described it as a "little giant" and a "hidden treasure") as consultant and he arranged a wide range of events to bring the organ to peoples' attention. This impetus is being ably continued by Ian Ray, the Borough Organist.

http://www.npor.org.uk/NPORView.html?RI=N08698
#18
Inspirational instruments / Re: Portable pipe organ
January 26, 2017, 09:26:29 PM
Ah, but think of Pattman and Reginald Foort, with their touring organs that each required several pantechnicons....
#19
Organ Music and Repertoire / Re: Denis Bedard
November 12, 2016, 08:25:30 PM
Denis Bedard writes good stuff.  not horrendously difficult, well-constructed, useful and sometimes very humorous (try the Cat Suite or Fantasie on 'O Canada').  Worth looking into if you haven't tried him before.
#20
Yes, they're hoping to have it restored soon.